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Authors: Kay Hooper

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The First Prophet

BOOK: The First Prophet
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PRAISE FOR KAY HOOPER’S
BISHOP/SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT NOVELS

“Seethes and sizzles. A fast-paced, atmospheric tale that vibrates with tension, passion,
and mystery. Readers will devour it.”

—Jayne Ann Krentz

“Kay Hooper…provide[s] a welcome chill on a hot summer’s day.”

—Orlando Sentinel

“A stirring and evocative thriller.”


Palo Alto Daily News

“Filled with page-turning suspense.”


The Sunday Oklahoman

“A well-told, scary story.”


Toronto Sun

“It passed the ‘stay up late to finish it in one night’ test.”


The Denver Post

“Harrowing good fun…[Readers] will shiver and shudder.”


Publishers Weekly

“Fans will be captivated—at every turn…[Hooper’s]
creative blend of the paranormal and suspense are truly
distinctive.”


Suspense Magazine

“You won’t want to turn the lights out after reading this book!”


RT Book Reviews

“Hooper’s unerring story sense and ability to keep the pages flying can’t be denied.”


Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

“Enjoyable…thought-provoking entertainment.”


Calgary Herald

“A full-force, page-turning, suspense-driven read…It had this reader anxiously gripping
the pages.”


The Mystery Reader

TITLES BY KAY HOOPER

Haven
The First Prophet

THE
FIRST
PROPHET
KAY HOOPER

JOVE BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3,
Canada
(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London
WC2R 0RL,
England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of
Penguin
Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008,
Australia
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11
Community
Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo
Drive,
Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin
Books,
Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North 2193, South Africa • Penguin
China,
B7 Jaiming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020,
China

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living
or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not
have control over
and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

THE FIRST PROPHET

A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

PUBLISHING HISTORY
Jove premium edition / December 2012

Copyright © 2012 by Kay Hooper.
Cover photograph copyright © Andy and Michelle Kerry / Trevillion Images.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
Text design by Laura K. Corless.

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy
of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized
editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 978-1-101-61336-8

JOVE
®
Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
JOVE
®
is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “J” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is
stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither
the
author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
THE
FIRST
PROPHET

The Bishop Files

Report
September 22

To Whom It May Concern:

I address this report as I have done because you and I agreed it would be best that
your name not appear in any written form, for obvious reasons. Future reports will
be submitted in the same format and manner, as requested.

As a brief preface, I will say that in my routine monitoring of various psychics in
this country and elsewhere, active and latent, whom I considered candidates for either
the Special Crimes Unit or Haven, I found myself becoming suspicious of certain events.
I cannot say it was a situation I immediately understood; my understanding, as these
reports will make clear, is ongoing as I—and others—slowly piece together the disparate
bits of information and actions that are clearly a part of what is going on.

I will also repeat, as I told you when we met, that I intend to take no one else into
my confidence unless
and until it becomes necessary. Until then, only you and Miranda will be privy to
the information I am able to collect.

I cannot say just why I believe something sinister is going on within and around the
largely underground psychic community; it is not a certainty I can attribute to either
my or my wife’s precognitive abilities. Psychically, we are both…blocked…whenever
we turn our attention toward certain events and actions—and people. That alone would
have drawn my attention, but there was more. Much more.

I therefore submit the following narrative, assembled from among those involved in
the situation that transpired, and from my own firsthand observations and senses as
events unfolded. I have no doubt we are a long way from learning the complete story,
but herein, I believe, is a good place to begin these reports, detailing a situation
that occurred several months ago, and which I believe may prove to be the catalyst
that will begin to unlock at least some of the secrecy surrounding these events.

Respectfully submitted,   
Noah Bishop, Unit Chief 
Special Crimes Unit, FBI

PROLOGUE

They moved with the kind of stealth that came of long experience and grim purpose,
and they didn’t waste a motion or make a sound. They numbered no more than half a
dozen, not counting the man who stood back from the isolated cabin they had encircled
and watched them. He had extremely well-developed night vision.

Through his unobtrusive, almost invisible headset, a whisper reached him.

“She’s not alone. Brodie’s with her.”

He barely hesitated before speaking softly into the microphone. “How long have they
been here?”

“The vehicle is cold.”

“Then he’s had time to call in reinforcements.”

“Maybe. But we have lookouts posted, and no one’s
reported any movement toward this position. We may have hours yet.”

“And we may not.” Duran glanced back over his shoulder at what daylight would have
shown was a cliff edge no more than a few feet behind him, and a sheer drop to a boulder-littered
canyon below. “Brodie chose well; this is an easily defensible position. For him.
I don’t propose to be trapped here, and dawn is minutes away. I assume Brodie is armed.”

An unamused chuckle came from the headset. “He usually is. To the teeth. And he’ll
go down fighting to protect this one.”

“I know.” Duran wondered absently whether his lieutenant had reached this conclusion
because he knew the fragile young psychic inside the cabin very much resembled another
young woman Brodie had nearly died trying to protect years before, but the next words
he heard through his headset answered that question for him.

“She’d be as valuable to him as to us. If we’re right about her potential, she’s worth
ten times her weight in gold.”

“Yes. I need to know what’s going on inside that cabin. Move closer. Carefully.”

Not being psychic himself had its drawbacks, Brodie knew. Like now. How the hell could
he tell her she was wrong when he wasn’t sure?

“I have to try,” she insisted, her face too gaunt for a young woman and her eyes far
too strained.

“You can’t.”
He kept his voice matter-of-fact, having learned at least that psychics as a rule
loved a challenge—and young women could rarely resist one. “You’re exhausted. You
haven’t slept for two days or eaten since yesterday. Besides that, it’s new to you,
not yet under control—”

BOOK: The First Prophet
5.14Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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